Does anyone really like Nathanial Hawthorne novels? Eg, The Scaret Letter, House of the 7 Gables?

[bobbieinok]

Maybe had to read them in HS. If so, I totally blocked them out of my memory.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. Yes! He's one of my favorite authors.

It's been awhile since I've read one of his books, but to the best of my recollection I've read all his novels plus lots of his short stories. I enjoyed his writing style and found his characters interesting.

[bobbieinok]

2. Have to admit I've recently read some very positive and interesting articles about his work

Made me think I should maybe give his work another try, now that I'm older.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

6. I'd always assumed he was dreary and inaccessible but couldn't have been

More wrong. He was a contemporary of Dickens (another favorite of mine) but the way he writes about women is a lot more modern than Dickens. I loved The Scarlett Letter (much to my surprise... it was my first Hawthorne book) but I think my favorite is The Marble Faun.

[pansypoo53219]

3. in my highschool we watched the PBS version of scarlet letter.

i read scarlet letter post HS. before or after the bad demi moore movie. i liked the book. extra because i discovered the word contumacious when i was reading a dictionary.

[yellowdogintexas]

4. YES along with his short stories.

"Rappacini's Daughter" was one of my favorites

I would have taken my favorite professor's seminar on Hawthorne except he paired it with Melville and I just couldn't deal with Melville.

[skypilot]

10. Melville

Where what looks like a paragraph turns out to be a single sentence.

[Polly Hennessey]

5. Yes.

Who could not love Hester.

[ailsagirl]

7. Definitely, The Scarlet Letter

[Cold War Spook]

8. After reading The House of the Seven Gables about 60 years ago,

my family drove up to Salem to see the house owned by his cousin.

[scarletlib]

9. I am late to this party, but yes.

I do enjoy his books. I especially liked the Scarlet Letter which I have read twice. Once as a teen and later as an adult. Even as a teenager I could see the hypocrisy and double standard applied to women and men in society. Also the bravery of Hester compared to the cowardice of the father of her child. As said by a previous poster, that was a remarkable for a man writing at that time.